When Bold Analysts Say Buy

When an analyst sticks his neck out with a bullish call on a stock, it's usually a good sign. Why Humana, GameStop, Ruth's Hospitality and Celgene could go higher.

It's generally a good sign for a stock when an analyst who covers it raises his earnings estimate. But there are two kinds of estimate hikes, and one bodes much better than the other.

The first kind brings a low estimate closer to the Street's consensus, putting an analyst in closer agreement with his peers. Yawn. The second kind takes a high estimate even further from the pack. Those are worth paying attention to. That's because Wall Street's forecasters are judged by their firms in part on whether they get such bold...